Sandstone Gardens proves that beauty and service make a winning combination

If Missouri is the Show-Me State, then Sandstone Gardens is the Show-Me Garden Center. Better make that the Show-Me-And-Do-It-For-Me Garden Center.

Fourteen years ago, Vicki and Max Carr started Sandstone Gardens as a statue and fountain manufacturer. In 1983, they opened the Joplin, Mo., shop that retails plants and garden decorations in an aesthetic fashion.

Display and merchandising are the Carrs' specialty, but you won't find fancy end-caps at this garden center. That's because there are no aisles. None.

Instead, merchandise both indoors and out is displayed in groupings to mimic "garden rooms" with English, Italian and French themes and more. In fact, you might confuse the store for a botanical garden.

The layout accomplishes two main goals. One, it gives shoppers design ideas for their own gardens and, two, it invites people to stay longer.

"Some people stay here two or three hours. When that's the case, their purchases are bound to increase," Vicki said. "Women tell us that their husbands don't mind staying here and that's a real trick."

The garden rooms create space for customers to mingle. It's not unusual for people to bring friends from out of town to see the store, Vicki said. Through word of mouth, Sandstone Gardens' reputation has spread and customers come from as far away as Chicago and Dallas.

Maintaining the look

When the store opened, Vicki designed all the vignettes and displays around the 3 1/2 acres of outdoor display and 13,000 square feet of indoor retail space.

Now she has a full-time and a part-time designer, Justin Thomas and Dave Ipock, respectively, to do indoor floral displays that include live plants, cut and dried flowers and artificial plants. Through the years, she has also grown to trust one employee, Nancy McReynolds, to create outdoor displays.

"I have one girl who really knows what I like and I really trust. That's hard to find," Vicki said. "We could do displays side-by-side and I don't think you could tell a difference in styles."

With no aisles and no benches, keeping inventory stocked can be a challenge. Persistently filling holes when merchandise is removed is key.

"If something is removed, replace it as soon as you can," Vicki said. "If you can find the exact duplicate of what was taken, then great. If not, find something close that still fits in with that display's theme."

Displays also get a major overhaul every day to make sure they are clean, neat and stocked with the latest merchandise.

Superior service

Customers love the store's displays, but sometimes find they aren't up to the challenge of re-creating them. For these people, Sandstone Gardens offers preplanted mixed containers and decorating and landscaping services.

The container plantings run from $69-$400 (about half the cost is for the container, the other half for the plants). Sandstone Gardens sells plenty of the more expensive choices.

"People will buy those items when given the opportunity. They want something big and beautiful, but they don't want to have to do the work," Vicki said.

Customers can also have Sandstone Gardens decorate their landscape or home. Patio and deck jobs are common as well as pool-area landscaping that typically costs $12,000-$15,000 for plants, statuary and fountains. Some people want quick makeovers for parties while some want total landscape redesigns.

"Some homeowners have spent $20,000-$25,000 a year three years in a row," Vicki said. "They'll do one garden area one year and do another the next when they have more money."

Sandstone Gardens also decorates commercial properties and recently finished a $25,000 office job that included designing a lobby, a secretarial area and two offices. Decorations included plants, containers, furniture and wall hangings.

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Sandstone Gardens also does holiday decorations for eight to 12 customers per year. These jobs cost from $2,500-$10,000 each and include the Christmas tree, wreaths, garland and other decorations for the entire house.

- Todd Davis